


I dwell in Possibilities

by blackkat



Series: Crossover and Fusion Drabbles [17]
Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: Humor, M/M, Post-Canon, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pre-Slash, at least for Bleach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 19:06:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16792942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: A stranger has been playing tricks on members of the Seireitei. Byakuya just intends to catch him and force him to stop, but thehowis becoming a problem.





	I dwell in Possibilities

“Captain, over—augh!”

Byakuya spins, one hand on Senbonzakura’s hilt, and snaps, “Renji,” before he’s even taken a step.

“On it,” Renji says grimly, and throws himself headlong into the trees, moving in a blur. Byakuya stays where he is; past experience has proven that the attacker rarely stays in one place long enough for them to mark him, and between his speed and his traps, there's little chance of predicting where he’s going to be next.

Breathing out, he lets his eyes slip closed, tracking Renji’s steps, the retreat of his reiatsu as he heads for the other portion of the squad. It’s ridiculous to wish for backup when a captain and a lieutenant are both present, but Byakuya feels a flicker of that anyway, considers for half a second calling in Ichigo and his Seventh Division. They’ve been out here hunting what might as well be a spirit for hours, and at this point more than three-quarters of the squad is incapacitated.

Carefully, deliberately, he steps forward, casting a narrow glance at the body on the ground at the foot of a tree. Alive, surprisingly; all of the victims of these traps seem to be, and while Byakuya is glad not to lose any members it’s also unnerving. It takes more control not to kill, with such traps, and—

Motion. Just a flicker, shadow-fast in his peripheral, but Byakuya doesn’t wait for it to resolve itself. He turns, unsheathing his sword, and a weapon rebounds off the blade as he blocks, twists, reaches out. Catches the thing as it falls, careful to use the very tips of his fingers, and brings it up. A kunai, lethally sharp, and with a hair-thin wire wound through the loop on the end. Strong enough to tangle a man, Byakuya thinks, letting it drop. If he hadn’t deflected it, he’d likely have assumed it missed, then tangled himself in it without knowing.

“Your ability to trap Captain Kurotsuchi is impressive,” he says, shifting back, turning again. He can't sense the attacker’s reiatsu, not even a flicker of it, but that’s nothing new; none of them have been able to sense him, or the traps he lays. “As is your ability to reduce my squad to its current numbers.”

There—another flicker. Movement, and Byakuya is fast enough to catch the flutter of leaves whirling away, but likely only Ichigo and Yoruichi would, beyond him. He wonders, tightening his grip on Senbonzakura, just how Renji is faring. The lack of screaming should be a good sign, but Byakuya finds himself rather more unsettled by it; Renji is rarely quiet.

“Soul Society is not the place for this,” he says. “You disrupt our duties with your _pranks_.”

Another flicker, slightly slower than the last but in the wrong place. There's a doubled image that splits off. Like the afterimage left by particularly fast shunpo, Byakuya assumes, but—more solid. He can hear its steps.

“Your _duties_?” one of them says, a man’s voice. Young, to Byakuya’s ears, but he can't tell if it’s the original or the afterimage. “He was experimenting on people!”

Righteous, that answer, and it feels like a pang of something close to amusement, or maybe nostalgia. Perhaps he really should call Ichigo over, even if the other captain will be insufferable about it. Still, having an actual grievance to address makes things easier. “Captain Kurotsuchi was experimenting on volunteers from his own division,” he says, and it’s even true. Kyōraku cares far more about the consent of the Twelfth Division members than Yamamoto ever did, and has taken steps to ensure that they truly are willing. Mayuri has been seething about it for decades now.

“That doesn’t make it _right_ ,” the voice insists, and Byakuya spins towards it, just fast enough to catch the outline of a ponytail again the sunlight streaming through the trees. Then the figure is gone in a puff of smoke, and Byakuya has to follow the echo of a landing step instead of his actual path. It’s both frustrating and unusual; the stranger isn't faster than he is, but he’s unpredictable, and it’s been so long since he let Ichigo badger him into a training session that he’s rather forgotten how to fight unpredictable.

“I have no say in the Twelfth Division’s actions,” he says coolly, and—to his left. A still form, hidden among the branches. Byakuya doesn’t look right at him, moves in the opposite direction even as he lets his reiatsu rise and pool, ready to be released as a kidō. “However, your actions against first the Twelfth and then the Fifth were uncalled for. The Captain-Commander has requested you turn yourself in.”

“I'm not going to turn myself in!” The screech is loud and indignant and offended, but it’s enough of a distraction. Byakuya lowers his sword, turns it in his hand, and for a swordfight it’s an impossible angle to use it from even if it will make dropping it simple. The stranger seems to have no knowledge of any Shinigami, after all; the chances that he’s aware of Byakuya’s shikai are slim. 

“You have killed no one,” he says, and it’s irritating having to reason with an enemy, but Kyōraku’s orders were very clear. No unnecessary death unless the man proves himself a threat. The fact that he can hide himself from them so completely is of interest. “An understanding may still be reached without bloodshed.”

A shift among the trees, faint and quick. A hesitation before the next words, and—

“Scatter, Senbonzakura,” Byakuya says, and lets his sword fall.

Blades like a spray of petals burst apart, whirl up, sweep down. They crash through the leaves and branches shielding the stranger—

The earth moves under Byakuya’s feet.

It’s no kidō he knows, nothing even close. The ground buckles and bucks and _falls_ , and Byakuya falls with it. He hits the earth hard, flat on his back, and there's a body on top of him, a pair of wide eyes and a face with a scar drawn across the bridge of the short nose. Dark skin, brown hair, and Byakuya calls Senbonzakura back with a sweep of his hand only to have the man grab his wrist, roll them right under the spray of blades and pin Byakuya again. This time there's a kunai pressed right up against Byakuya’s throat, and he goes still instantly.

“Stop _attacking_ me!” the stranger protests.

Byakuya narrows his eyes, but doesn’t try to move. “You are the one attacking Shinigami,” he says icily. “Cease your actions—”

“I stole some food for _kids_ ,” the man snaps. “I'm not even supposed to _be_ here, but I died and they were hungry so I took it. From some—some big mansion, where they had too much, and then they set their _guards_ on me, and then your _Shinigami_ —”

Byakuya’s breath tangles in his throat. Stealing food for children with reiatsu, to keep them alive in the Rukongai? That’s—

“Byakuya!”

The stranger goes stiff, then leaps, and there's a snarled, “Getsuga tenshō!”

The wave of red-edged black passes right over Byakuya, slams into the stranger, and he yelps, twists, and vanishes in a puff of smoke. Still on the ground, Byakuya closes his eyes, breathes out.

The afterimage, then. Or whatever the stranger’s equivalent is.

“You okay, Byakuya?” Ichigo asks, and a moment later there’s a hand in front of Byakuya’s face. He takes it, lets Ichigo pull him to his feet, and sees the other captain’s eyes widen. Raises a hand to his throat, and that it comes away smeared with a thin line of blood is nearly a surprise.

“I believe you startled him,” he says, and then, when Ichigo's frown deepens further, “I will be fine.”

Ichigo doesn’t look convinced, but he slings Zangetsu over his shoulder. His captain’s haori is missing, and his hair is full of leaves. When he catches Byakuya’s faintly raised brow, he rolls his eyes and says, “Renji tripped into a pit trap. A pit trap with a net trap at the bottom. I had to get him out before I could find you.”

Somehow, Byakuya can't quite manage to find his surprise. He looks after the vanished afterimage, because that was…clever. Deliberate misdirection, and Byakuya fell for it in an instant. Practiced in traps and tricks, Byakuya thinks, but—

If he was telling the truth about stealing food for children, he’s also…kind.

“Inform Renji that I expect him to oversee the squad’s retreat,” he tells Ichigo, and raises a hand. Senbonzakura condenses in his grip, and he slides the blade away without pause.

“What?” Ichigo sounds somewhere between startled and irritated. “Why? Where are you going?”

Byakuya pauses, turns his head but doesn’t look back. He thinks he sees a flicker in the trees ahead of him, something almost too quick to follow.

“Which family reported the first attacks to the Seireitei?” he asks.

Ichigo blinks, frowns. “The Ōmaeda,” he answers. “But—hey! Byakuya!”

Byakuya doesn’t wait for him to finish, but vanishes in a flicker of flash-step, headed for the Ōmaeda family estate. It’s a simple thing, to check whether the stranger was telling the truth, but if he was, there are options. Avenues to resolve this incident. The Seireitei provides for children with high spiritual pressure, should they make an appeal, or should someone appeal on their behalf. Rukia's program, implemented as soon as she became a captain, and if the stranger knows about it—

Well. Byakuya prefers solutions to problems to be both thorough and tidy. This is simply making sure that this situation resolves without further damage to the Gotei 13’s reputation.


End file.
